The universe is conspiring to make us tired and distracted this week – post- busy holiday weekend, combined with daylight savings (especially those of us with young kids, for whom this does not equal an extra hour of sleep) – and now we look directly at an incredibly tense election week all with the backdrop of an ongoing pandemic.
So here’s a prayer for this week from a favorite pastor of mine, Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber.
For all of us doing our best to cope with all the things right now.
Remember to be kind to yourself and others in your life and circles today and the days to come.
Dear God,
Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber, Sunday Prayers 11/1/20
This week is a doozey.
If anxiety produced a sound, it would be deafening right now.
Open my ears to the sounds I need most: the wild geese overhead, Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace (1972);
the sound of my friend on the other end of the phone;
the sugar-high laughter of children who need us to dial down the doom.
If fear could be seen, it would be obscuring everything else.
Open my eyes to the sights that I need most: my puppy underfoot with a toy in her mouth, ready to play;
the brightening of my neighbor’s eyes under their mask when I pass them in the stairwell;
that sidewalk covered in an oak tree’s fallen leaves like nature’s confetti.
If sorrow could be tasted, the bitterness would overcome me.
Open my mouth to the sweetness I need: words of kindness; deep, unhurried kisses;
and absolutely as much Ben and Jerry’s as I deem necessary.
Help me remember that you are in the other side of Tuesday, no matter what.
Amen.